Girl Name of the Week: Sybil

In honor of my post featuring "cool girl names," the Girl's Name of the Week is a lovely Greek name that means "prophetess".  With the recent popularity of the TV show Downton Abbey, the name of the Crawley's youngest daughter has been on the minds' of American parents.  Sybil was nearly forgotten until now, but it doesn't appear to be climbing back up the charts just yet.

Sybil was not originally a name, but an ancient Greek word for a woman who claimed the ability to foresee that which most people could not. These prophetesses were thought to have divine knowledge and were revered. Despite its origins as a word, the name itself its uniquely beautiful.

It can also be spelled Sibyl or Cybill, and there are many international variations such as Sibylla or Sybille.  This spelling, Sybil, has been around since the middle ages where it saw common usage among Christians.  It was later taken to England by the Normans but became extremely rare after the Protestant Reformation. It wasn't until Benjamin Disraeli wrote a novel titled "Sybil" in 1845 that the name saw a revival through the Victorian era.

This name peaked in usage in 1921 when 541 baby girls were born. Since then, the name has declined greatly and fell off of the Top 1000 chart in 1967. In 2012, there were only 16 babies given this name, ranking it at #7706.

 Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey had the middle name Cora after her mother.  Sybil Coraline? Sybil Caroline? Her sisters are named Mary and Edith.

Do you think Sybil has the potential to regain some popularity? Or do you think its strong meaning makes parents shy of using it? Do you like the name?  Let me know in the comments section below!

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Alessia, Cora, Delaney, Edith, Imogen, Pearl, Rebecca
Brothers: Alfred, Clive, Isaiah, Joshua, Marcus, Peter, Warren

Middle Name Ideas:
Sybil Alessandra
Sybil Caroline
Sybil Ophelia
Sybil Minerva
Sybil Coraline

As a Middle Name:
Alexandra Sybil
Catherine Sybil
Josephine Sybil
Rosalie Sybil
Victoria Sybil

Cool Names for Girls

Finding the perfect name can be a struggle. After all, you want to find something that is pleasing to the ear. Perhaps what you need is to find a "cool name" that would impress your friends and give your child that unique edge.

This is a list of "cool names for girls."  Of course, everyone's opinion differs, but you may just find what you're looking for here:

Maisie? Sabra?

Albany Amabel Ambrosia Annora Anouk Asia Augustina Austen Branwen Caia Celestia Cerys Cicely Clementina Clio Corinne Cornelia Delaney Domenica Electra Eleonora Elspeth Federica Finola Fleur Guinivere Henrietta Honora Ione Isadora Isolde Jacinta Katerina

Lark Lenore Leonie Lilou Lola Lucienne Lux Mabel Maisie Mireille November Olive Olympia Ondine Paz Philomena Phoebe Pippa Rafaella Sabra Saffron Sasha Saskia Snow Sybil Tansy Tempest Trudy True Valentine Willa Xaviere Zandra

Do you like any of these? Can you think of any to add? Click Here to view the Cool Boy Names List!

Boy Name of the Week: Felix

The Boy's Name of the Week is the bold and playful Felix.  Beyond "Felix the Cat," this is a Latin name that means "happy and fortunate".

Felix has been the name of four popes and a whopping 67 saints! A biblical Felix was the governor of Judea who imprisoned Saint Paul.  In Ancient Roman times, General Sulla adopted the name Felix because he felt as though the gods blessed him with luck and fortune.

Felix has been all over various literature and films, too many to list. There are also many modern day examples and a couple celebrity babies.

If you zoom out and look internationally, the name Felix is very diverse! It works well in Spanish, German, Austrian, Russian and Polish. It is also quite popular in England/Wales, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Here in the U.S., it is definitely picking up steam!

It ranked at #316 in 2012 when 1,025 boys were born. There were even 15 female births, but Felix comes across as an all-boy name to me, despite it occasionally being used on girls since 1917.

Felix peaked in 1918, declined in usage, and then was moderately used through the 50s and 60s.  Usage increased again around 1990 and Felix hit its modern peak in 2011.   Since 1880, it has been above #394 on the Top 1000 chart, but yet it feels so very under-the-radar still.

Source

I think this name has potential to continue climbing the charts. It is a simple name with one possible spelling and it is unique but antique enough to be familiar. The fact that it is Latin and has such a wonderful meaning will boost the name in parents' eyes, and that X on the end gives it a stylish vibe.

What do you think of the name Felix? Is it on your list?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Audrey, Beatrice, Fiona, Ivy, Lorelei, Ramona, Sophia
Brothers: Dexter, Elliott, Jasper, Julian, Maxwell, Oliver, Xavier

Middle Name Ideas:
Felix Alexander
Felix John
Felix Nathaniel
Felix Oliver

As a Middle Name:
Milo Felix
Oscar Felix
Charles Felix
Brody Felix
Henry Felix

Cool Names for Boys

If you are in need of a baby name and you don't really know how to narrow down your style and choose something, perhaps what you need is to find a "cool name" that would impress your friends and give your child that unique edge.

You're in luck! This is a list of "cool names for boys."  Of course, everyone's opinion differs, but you may just find what you're looking for here:

He's definitely an Ace or Cruz

Ace August Ash Axel Bay Beau Beckett Blaze Booker Boone Breccan Calix Calloway Cashel Chance Chase Cliff Colt Cormac Crispin Cruz Damian Dash Dashiell Decimus Denim Diesel Donovan Draven Felix Fergus Finn Gunner Gus Guthrie Harley Homer Hudson Humphrey

Hunter Inigo Ivo Jackson Jagger Jax Jett Justice King Knute Leonidas Lorcan Maddox Matteo Maximus Neo Nico Orion Ozias Pierce Pilot Ranger Ransom Rowan Ryder Ryker Sargent Sayer Steele Stone Storm Taj Talon West Wilder Wolf Wyatt Zane Zebulon

Which of these is your favorite? Can you think of any to add? Click Here for the Cool Girls Names list!

Predicting Trends: The 100 Year Rule

They say that it takes 100 years for names to come back into fashion. They aren't wrong.

When you think about all of the names that are currently at the top of the charts (or rising quickly) how many of them were previously considered "Grandma" names?

Perhaps these names are now being used to honor those grandparents. Or maybe those names now belong to the great-grandparents of current baby-namers and aren't well-known or thought of as old. Just like fashion trends, names have a way of coming back around and seeming fresh again. The 100 year rule is real!

To prove that, here are some names that saw popularity spikes in the 1915-1925 range. These same names have begun gaining popularity since 2010 (and sometimes earlier because of those parents ahead of the trend.)

We can only assume that these names will continue to climb our modern day charts and hit their peaks around the 100-years-later mark and then decline again.

Name: (Year with most births) #ranking in 2012

Names that spiked around 1920 that are also spiking in popularity today:
Adeline (1918) #239
Clara (1918)  #136
Eleanor (1920)  #135
Genevieve (1918) #228
Hazel (1918)  #175
Josephine (1918) #160
Lillian (1920) #25
Lola (1919) #231
Ruby (1920) #106
Sophie (1917) #52
Violet (1920) #89
Vivian (1920)  #141

Keep in mind that these names have not had any popularity spikes between then and now.

Here are some names that also had their spike around 1920 but haven't yet spiked today. These names are slowly inching upward per the 100 year rule. If you use one of these now, you'll be ahead of any possible spikes in the near future and I think they're coming.

Name: (Year with most births) #ranking in 2012

Names that spiked around 1920 and are climbing the charts today:
Adele (1918)  #536
Beatrice (1921)  #691
Edith (1918)  #762
Elsie (1918) #397
Estelle (1915)  #950
June (1925) #435
Leona  (1918)  #914
Lucille (1919)  #394
Mabel (1915) #1051
Mae (1918)  #750
Viola (1918)  #1408

What do you think of these two lists? Would you use any of these names and be part of the trend? Or does this information make you immediately avoid these names so that your daughter doesn't have a popular name in the coming years?  Let me know!

Girl Name of the Week: Antonia

The Girl's Name of the Week is a beautiful choice that often gets overlooked: Antonia.

Antonia is the feminine form of the Roman family name "Antonius" from which the male names Antony, Anthony, Antonio, etc also come. All of these names unfortunately do not have a known meaning.

In the 17th century, names like this were confused for having origins from the Greek word "Anthos" which means "flower" and resulted in the letter "h" being adding to names like Anthony.

Some websites will claim meanings for these names, but none have been proven to be true. I have seen meanings listed for Antonia such as "priceless," "beautiful," or "praiseworthy." If you wish to use one of these meanings for your daughter, that is fine with me, just remember they haven't been proven as the true meaning based on the root name Antonius, which has an unknown meaning.

Antonia and its variant forms such as Antoinette and Antonella, among others, have strong roots in history. A popular example was the Queen of France Marie Antoinette (born Maria Antonia.) There were also many women in Roman Antiquity named Antonia.

In 2007, Antonia took a nose-dive off the US Top 1000 chart. It had a strong popularity spike in 1996 with 669 babies born and then it immediately declined in usage afterward. There were only 219 baby girl Antonias born in 2012. Confusingly, there were also 6 males given this name.

Antonia historically saw decent usage in the 1920's and again in the 1950's before its big spike in 1996. If you are looking for a solid name with plenty of history without a ton of current popularity, Antonia is a great option! It ranked at #1122 in 2012.

Revision: As of 2016, Antonia ranks at #993 with 264 births for the year.

What do you think of this name? Do you prefer one of the variants instead?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Eva, Gloria, Louisa, Margaret, Michaela, Sophia
Brothers: Andrew, David, Joseph, Manuel, Rafael, Simon

Middle Name Ideas:
Antonia Elise
Antonia Kate
Antonia Jane
Antonia Guadalupe
Antonia Margarita
Antonia Penelope

As a Middle Name:
Evelyn Antonia
Maria Antonia
Willow Antonia
Josephine Antonia
Sara Antonia

What would you pair with Antonia?

Original post: 7/26/13
Revised: 5/14/17

Ancient Names for Girls

Like the Ancient Boy Name post, here are some lovely and unique ancient name options for girls! Many of them are Latin but there is a mixture of origins and eras in this list. Which of these do you think deserve to be used for a modern girl?

Abelia                         Aeliana Albia Aliana Amabel Amica Annia Antonia Aphra Aquilia Aries Argentia Arria Atarah Athalia Aurelia Avita Basilia Beata Bellatrix Caesarea Calvina Campana Candida Cassia Cecilia Claudia Clemencia Columba Constantina Cornelia Crispina Cyra Dahlia Damaris Damiane Decima Delicia Dominica Donata Drusilla Dulcina Elizabella Elysia Fabia Fannia Fausta Faustina Felicia Fidella Flavia Florentina Fortunata Francesca Gaia Galla Gaynor Gwenore Hilaria Honoria Horatia Imogene Isolde Jennet Jonet

Jovia Julia Junia Juno Justina Laelia Laurentia Lavinia Ligeia Livia Lucia Lucilla Lucretia Mahala Marciana Marilla Mattea Maxima Melisent Meriall Mila Minerva Mucia Nerilla Nicasia Nova Octavia Paccia Palantina Perpetua Persis Phillida Pisces Placidia Prima Prisca Priscilla Quintia Regina Rosalba Rufina Sabina Septima Sergia Seraphina Severina Sibyl Sidonia Silvia Tanaquil Tauria Tertia Titiana Tullia Turia Urbana Ursa Valentina Valeria Varinia Venecia Verina Viviana Zelina